F3j - Thermal duration

Flying rules for F3J are quite straight-forward and require as much flight time as possible in a ten minute “slot” period ending with a precision landing. The gliders are flown in groups (usually of between six and ten models at a time) so as to neutralise the effect of any one slot having nothing but “poor air” so resulting in nothing but low flight times for that slot. The model should be landed close to a marked target spot to get landing bonus points. In competitions, launching is generally accomplished in Australian events with a power winch but hand towing (150 metre line) is a requirement for international status events and two persons are allowed to tow.

These two tow men generally use a pulley and stake and, by so doing, even more power can be injected into the model than from a power winch giving rise to quite spectacular launches. Because the flyers believe that some of the group who will find thermal air to allow for a ten minute flight (and they can re-launch if they choose anyway), flyers will launch simultaneously at the start of the slot time; this gives a quite spectacular start to the slot and the landings, if multiple models fly out the ten minutes can be equally exciting.

GliderScore

If you're running a comp. for F3J, F3B, F3F, F3K, F5B or F5J then this is the best solution for managing your event. GliderScore runs under XP, W7 and W8 and is developed by Gerry Carter. Grab the latest version from www.gliderscore.com (including user guide).